Tuesday, November 15, 2016

MCPS Students Hit the Streets

I have made a few people not-happy by suggesting, as we led up to this election, that maybe it would be smart to put an age limit on voting. After forty-five or so, I think you ought to stay out of it. The young people are the ones who have to live with the consequences of an election like this-- why should baby boomers decide how the world is going to be, when it's the young people who will be living in it? My opinion is not a popular one with my peers.

Happily, the young people of Montgomery County are speaking up for themselves, even if they can't vote. Monday, students left a bunch of Silver Spring area high schools, converged near Wheaton Mall, and then headed up to Victory Plaza. I think they will be charged with unexcused absences at their schools, otherwise I don't think MCPS is going to make a big deal out of it.

This is the way you learn about democracy, by taking part in it. Voting is one thing, that is the mechanism that makes it function, but voting is not the only way you can influence your own future. Here is Channel 9's take on it.
SILVER SPRING, MD. (WUSA9) - Students walked out of class Monday at five Silver Spring high schools to protest president-elect Donald Trump.

The walkout started around 10 a.m. and involved students from Montgomery Blair, Northwood, Wheaton, John F. Kennedy and Albert Einstein High Schools.

Sky9 captured video of students holding signs and walking from school to University Blvd in Wheaton. They blocked traffic on University Blvd, went to Westfield Wheaton Mall, continued south on Georgia Ave towards downtown Silver Spring and ended at Veteran's Plaza. Hundreds of students walk out of Md. high schools to protest Trump

(This is not Channel 9's video but it is pretty good.)


Note that young adults preferred Clinton over Trump nationally by a 55%-37% margin, while voters 65 and older preferred Trump over Clinton 53%-45%. This outcome isn't what these teenagers wanted, but they are the ones who will have to live with the consequences.

While we're in the numbers, Montgomery County voters gave 82,985 votes for Trump and Pence, and 309,761 for Clinton and Kaine. That is, about one vote in five went to Trump here, nearly eighty percent for Clinton. So no, this is not what we wanted.
School officials said the walkout was organized by students. They said no teachers were involved and they continued teaching as students walked out.

Up to 500 students participated in the protest. Some were heard chanting "we reject the president-elect."

It doesn’t matter how old you are... your voice could be heard,” one student said. “We decided to cut time from school to make sure our voices are heard. They are hearing us.”

“It is amazing that we could get all these people together, we have all different races, all different schools, ages... us and the silent majority that can’t vote, we found a way to express ourselves,” a Blair High School student said.
That's a good point, the "silent majority that can't vote." They inherit the future that we put in place for them.
Bystanders were also seen shouting out words of encouragement.

“Even though it was mostly high schoolers that were walking, we had a lot of cheering and honking from adults all over,” a student said. “People that were working, stepping out of their houses to raise their fists.”

At one point, Pastor Jeffery O. Thames joined the protest.

“We want the children to realize what their political power is and how to utilize their voices,” Thames said.

According to Montgomery County Public Schools, most of the students will be disciplined unless they have an excused absence from their parents.
Hear that, Mom? Johnny had a cough and didn't feel good.
"We offered the students a safe space to protest at school in the stadium, but once the students walk off it changes the dynamic," Director of Public Information with MCPS, Derek Turner said.

Police, worried about the safety of the students, advised them to stay out of the roadways. Students said they appreciated the police presence and were happy the police gave them an outlet to express themselves.
In some of the video you see the police cars pulling up ahead of the group, blocking traffic and making sure they were safe. Pretty nice, the police protecting the rights of the people.

8 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Johnny doesn't even need a "cough."

From an MCPS PTSA President:

"In terms of punishment, what Montgomery County has done is completely reasonable. They have left it up to you. The Parents. If you want to punish your child for attending this protest, then do not give them a note. If you do not want your child to participate in winter sports because they participated in this protest, then pull them out. The rule is that if you leave the campus without your parents permission, then it is an unexcused absence...."

November 15, 2016 10:05 AM  
Anonymous They Are Making America Hate Again said...

'Colored' and 'whites only' signs placed above water fountains at Florida high school

When is the Grab Our Pu--y President Elect going to speak out about and condemn these acts of hate?

November 15, 2016 10:44 AM  
Anonymous Make America Hate Again said...

Watch a Trump-bully-thug tackle a peaceful protester who was exercising his Constitutional right to free speech and assembly at Ohio State University.

Thank goodness there weren't any Trump-bully-thugs around here yesterday, tackling our MCPS students for peacefully protesting Trump with their Constitutional right to free speech and assembly.

November 15, 2016 4:18 PM  
Anonymous Make America Hate Again said...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/a-male-trump-supporter-punched-a-woman-eating-dinner-in-the-face_us_582b2c86e4b060adb5704c25

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2016/11/12/post-election-spate-hate-crimes-worse-than-post-911-experts-say/93681294/

Trump's silence is deafening.

Instead of carpet bombing Trump sends out tweet storm telling ISIS to "Stop it!" #Headlinesfor2017

November 15, 2016 4:40 PM  
Anonymous will we make great again or hate again? said...

Jim, this Trump election has really lit a fire under TTF

that's six blog posts in the week since the election

well, I don't blame you

the winds of change have swept in

didn't read this one yet but probably will later tonight, and make my usual pithy comments

did want to bring a couple of things to attention however

1. Trump is already proving to be a gay-friendly President

when asked on 60 Minutes Sunday night whether he would appoint SCOTUS justices who would overturn Obergefell v. Hodges, he said no, it's the settled law of the land

additionally, he is planning to appoint the first openly homosexual guy to a cabinet-level foreign policy position, Richard Grenell, as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations

2. Hillary did not win the popular vote

we didn't have a popular election

if we had, Trump may have won that too

with an electoral college system, if you live in a state where one candidate clearly has the lead, you may not bother to vote, because it doesn't matter

this may be the case with tens of millions of voters

I'm not saying who would have won, but there is no way to tell, regardless of what you've been hearing

November 15, 2016 6:19 PM  
Blogger JimK said...

Anon, I don't know where you're going with that gay thing. Did you think that is why I would have voted against him, because of his attitude toward gays?

Also, have I said something that made you think I believed Hillary should have won, just because the majority of people voted for her? No, I don't say that. She of all people knows how the game is played. If there is gerrymandering, voter suppression, interference by the FBI and Wikileaks, and overwhelming free media coverage for her opponent, that's just how it goes -- her side tried to give 'em hell, too, but got outgunned. The name of the game is to GOTV in the areas where the electoral votes are, and she did not succeed at that. She made the mistake of running a serious, traditional campaign, in a country that can't tell the difference between reality and reality TV.

November 15, 2016 7:57 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"when asked on 60 Minutes Sunday night whether he would appoint SCOTUS justices who would overturn Obergefell v. Hodges, he said no, it's the settled law of the land"

Obergefell was decided in June of 2015.

Roe v. Wade was decided in January 0f 1973.

It's pretty clear which is the more "settled law of the land."

Your Pu--y Predator President Elect has already changed his mind on these issues.

Remember this? Donald Trump: "I'm Very Pro Choice," Partial Birth Abortion is OK

Who's to say he won't change his mind on these issues again?

You?

< eye roll >

We also know "...before Mike Pence was chosen as Donald Trump’s running mate, former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort, using Trump’s analogy of running a business to explain how he’d run the country, told HuffPost’s Howard Fineman that the vice president of the Trump administration would really be the “CEO” or “COO” ― or, the president of the company ― while Trump would be more like the “chairman of the board”:

“He needs an experienced person to do the part of the job he doesn’t want to do. He seems himself more as the chairman of the board, than even the CEO, let alone the COO...There is a long list of who that person could be.”

That person turned out to be Pence, and, before and after the election, there’s been some analysis and commentary suggesting that Mike Pence could be “the most powerful vice president ever.” And now, just days after the election, his power has increased tenfold as he is replacing Chris Christie as chairman of Trump’s transition team, filling all the major positions in the incoming Trump administration.

Mike Pence is perhaps one of the most anti-LGBTQ evangelical Christian political crusaders to serve in Congress and as governor of a state. Long before he signed the draconian anti-LGBTQ “religious liberty” law in Indiana last year, he supported “conversion therapy” as a member of Congress, and later, as a columnist and radio host, he gave a speech in which he said that marriage equality would lead to “societal collapse,” and called homosexuality “a choice.” Stopping gays from marrying wasn’t biased, he said, but was rather about compelling “God’s idea.”..."


The Mike Pence (Donald Trump) Assault On LGBTQ Equality Is Already Underway

November 16, 2016 1:36 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Wyatt/bad anonymous said "Trump is already proving to be a gay-friendly President when asked on 60 Minutes Sunday night whether he would appoint SCOTUS justices who would overturn Obergefell v. Hodges, he said no, it's the settled law of the land".

That's a lie. He wasn't asked if he'd appoint justices who would overturn Obergfell, he was asked if he wants to see Obergefell overturned - two very different questions. Its irrelevant what Trump says about Obergefell. He's put forward a list of 20 potential fascist judges from amongst he's said he'd pick supreme court justices and they're all anti-gay right wing extremists. Those extreme right wing anti-gay justices once on the supreme court will determine what is "settled law" and what isn't, not Trump. When they rule there's no constitutional right to gay marriage Trump will just say "Oh well, it was out of my hands, I'm fine with it.".

Trump claims one thing one day and then the next denies he ever said it. As soon as some anti-gay supporter gets in his ear he'll be saying Obergefell isn't settled law and must be overturned. Trump has promised to pass the euphemistically named First Amendment "Defense" Act which will overturn all state and local laws protecting LGBT people from discrimination and will allow any christian or business to discriminate against LGBT people but not vice versa. He has also surrounded himself with viciously anti-gay staff and supporters like Mike Pence who will be handling all the social policy as Trump is too stupid and too lazy to do any of the real job of the president.

Trump is a disaster for LGBT people.

You must be getting whiplash from your changing positions on Trump, first falsely declaring he has been gay friendly all his life, then saying his election means "the gay agenda is on the run", and now reversing yourself yet again. All your comments on Trump's anti-gayness are merely trolling in an attempt to annoy good people.

Wyatt/bad anonymous said "Hillary did not win the popular vote".

An obvious and childish lie. Its well documented that Hillary has so far gotten over a million votes more than Trump. And that number is going to increase as more votes in California are yet to be counted.

November 16, 2016 4:27 PM  

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